John Spano

* Marv Albert, caught in a sex scandal, pleads guilty to assaulting a woman. * Frank Gifford is videotaped having an affair in a hotel with an ex-flight attendant. * Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield's right ear twice during a heavyweight fight. * Dennis Rodman is suspended for 11 games for kicking a courtside photographer. * Barry Switzer is detained after a handgun is found in his luggage. * Wil Cordero pleads guilty to beating and threatening his wife. * New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari calls reporter Dan Garcia "a Mexican idiot."

A South Florida man appeared in federal court Wednesday morning on a charge that he hacked into Fort Lauderdale-based Muvico Theaters' computer system in May and made it impossible for the theater chain to sell tickets online or process credit-card sales at six of its megaplex locations. Joseph Harlen Shook, Muvico's former director of information technology, was indicted last week on a felony charge that he intentionally caused harm to Muvico's computer system. He did not enter a plea Wednesday and was released on $100,000 bail.

A South Florida man appeared in federal court Wednesday morning on a charge that he hacked into Fort Lauderdale-based Muvico Theaters' computer system in May and made it impossible for the theater chain to sell tickets online or process credit-card sales at six of its megaplex locations. Joseph Harlen Shook, Muvico's former director of information technology, was indicted last week on a felony charge that he intentionally caused harm to Muvico's computer system. He did not enter a plea Wednesday and was released on $100,000 bail.

* Marv Albert, caught in a sex scandal, pleads guilty to assaulting a woman. * Frank Gifford is videotaped having an affair in a hotel with an ex-flight attendant. * Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield's right ear twice during a heavyweight fight. * Dennis Rodman is suspended for 11 games for kicking a courtside photographer. * Barry Switzer is detained after a handgun is found in his luggage. * Wil Cordero pleads guilty to beating and threatening his wife. * New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari calls reporter Dan Garcia "a Mexican idiot."

Playoff fever has derailed H. Wayne Huizenga's sale of the Florida Panthers to Dallas financier John Spano. Huizenga said late Thursday that he is giving a group of local friends and investors a chance to buy the hottest club in the National Hockey League. "I want to make it clear that we're not price shopping," Huizenga said. "We're simply giving some local people a chance to come forward and buy the team." Spano, who nearly bought the Dallas Stars for $82 million in December, was dejected.

Panthers owner H. Wayne Huizenga and Dallas businessman John Spano are continuing talks that could lead to Spano buying the club. "We're talking to Mr. Huizenga like we've been for the last few weeks," Spano said after the first period of Game 4 on Thursday. Huizenga said he would prefer to sell 100 percent of the Panthers, but Spano does not want to be the sole owner. "He doesn't want to buy a majority," Huizenga said. "Part of his deal is he's insisting that I stay in for a small piece.

He'll never forget the words. They reverberate in the viaducts of his mind. "I'm running out of money." What the hell was this, Denis Potvin remembers thinking? John Spano was buying the New York Islanders for $165 million, wanted Potvin to join his management team, and the rich businessman from Dallas was pleading poverty before the closing? "I'm running out of money." Spano was supposed to be worth $230 million in offshore accounts. He rubbed elbows in Dallas with Ross Perot Jr., and Roger Staubach, had his thoroughbreds with Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito, and had previously sought to purchase the Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga.

Denis Potvin is bleeding Islander blue. Potvin, the Islanders' Hall of Fame defenseman and Panther broadcast analyst, was captain of four Stanley Cup-winning teams on Long Island. But over the years, Potvin has watched the franchise sink into mediocrity, and he finds it's been difficult to watch. "It's been painful," Potvin said last week. "I can't say really what current management has done or not done because I'm not privy to the decisions they've made. But, in the same way Messier and Gretzky felt about Edmonton, I feel about the Islanders.

Owner H. Wayne Huizenga's move Tuesday to sign a letter-of-intent with Broward County to keep the Panthers in South Florida while eliminating a sale deadline has potential buyer Bruce Frey baffled. Frey, a Palm Beach developer, has combined with Bud Paxson, a media mogul, to make an $85 million offer for the Panthers, one of two bids the NHL confirms it has received. The other is from Dallas businessman John Spano, who made an offer on Friday. Late Tuesday night, after meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Huizenga in New York, Frey was certain Huizenga would sell.

By DAVID NITKIN Staff Writer and Staff Writer Ray Murray contributed to this story, May 18, 1996

Lips remained sealed within the Panthers' organization Friday, as speculation mounted elsewhere over which of team owner H. Wayne Huizenga's friends and associates would step forward to buy a stake in the team. The Panthers' ownership question took yet another twist this week when Huizenga confirmed that Dallas financier John Spano was out of the picture as a possible buyer. The reason: Huizenga said that the Panthers' playoff success has caught the fancy of several of his friends and business associates.

He'll never forget the words. They reverberate in the viaducts of his mind. "I'm running out of money." What the hell was this, Denis Potvin remembers thinking? John Spano was buying the New York Islanders for $165 million, wanted Potvin to join his management team, and the rich businessman from Dallas was pleading poverty before the closing? "I'm running out of money." Spano was supposed to be worth $230 million in offshore accounts. He rubbed elbows in Dallas with Ross Perot Jr., and Roger Staubach, had his thoroughbreds with Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito, and had previously sought to purchase the Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga.

Denis Potvin is bleeding Islander blue. Potvin, the Islanders' Hall of Fame defenseman and Panther broadcast analyst, was captain of four Stanley Cup-winning teams on Long Island. But over the years, Potvin has watched the franchise sink into mediocrity, and he finds it's been difficult to watch. "It's been painful," Potvin said last week. "I can't say really what current management has done or not done because I'm not privy to the decisions they've made. But, in the same way Messier and Gretzky felt about Edmonton, I feel about the Islanders.

Playoff fever has derailed H. Wayne Huizenga's sale of the Florida Panthers to Dallas financier John Spano. Huizenga said late Thursday that he is giving a group of local friends and investors a chance to buy the hottest club in the National Hockey League. "I want to make it clear that we're not price shopping," Huizenga said. "We're simply giving some local people a chance to come forward and buy the team." Spano, who nearly bought the Dallas Stars for $82 million in December, was dejected.

Panthers owner H. Wayne Huizenga and Dallas businessman John Spano are continuing talks that could lead to Spano buying the club. "We're talking to Mr. Huizenga like we've been for the last few weeks," Spano said after the first period of Game 4 on Thursday. Huizenga said he would prefer to sell 100 percent of the Panthers, but Spano does not want to be the sole owner. "He doesn't want to buy a majority," Huizenga said. "Part of his deal is he's insisting that I stay in for a small piece.

Owner H. Wayne Huizenga's move Tuesday to sign a letter-of-intent with Broward County to keep the Panthers in South Florida while eliminating a sale deadline has potential buyer Bruce Frey baffled. Frey, a Palm Beach developer, has combined with Bud Paxson, a media mogul, to make an $85 million offer for the Panthers, one of two bids the NHL confirms it has received. The other is from Dallas businessman John Spano, who made an offer on Friday. Late Tuesday night, after meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Huizenga in New York, Frey was certain Huizenga would sell.

Muvico Theaters, the upscale Fort Lauderdale-based movie theater chain, said Thursday that it was a victim of an Internet crime that inconvenienced thousands of moviegoers during the opening weekend of the widely anticipated film Mission: Impossible III. Since last Friday, the 12-megaplex chain has been battling its own version of "Mission Impossible": Muvico has been unable to process credit-card purchases, or validate prepaid ticket purchases made...

The burning legal battle between Muvico Theaters founder Hamid Hashemi and the management team of his former company escalated with a flurry of recent court filings. The former executive filed a shareholder complaint Tuesday that claims some members of Muvico's top management and its board engaged in self-dealing and breached their fiduciary responsibility. In another recent court filing, the Fort Lauderdale-based movie theater chain said it fired Hashemi for "willful misconduct," in a response to previous lawsuits that Hashemi filed against the company.